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    How to Use the AmblesideOnline Website for Curriculum Purposes (Video Tutorial!)

    March 6, 2017 by Brandy Vencel

    For those of you who want to use the AmblesideOnline curriculum, but find the website confusing or hard to use, this tutorial is for you. Pro tip: use a desktop computer with printer attached. When you are setting up your curriculum for the year, you want to be able to press print.

    For those of you who are well acquainted with AmblesideOnline, please leave your pro tips in the comments!

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    22 Comments

  • Reply Isaac & Abha March 14, 2019 at 10:20 pm

    HI, this is really helpful. I am trying to explore good material for my 3 kids age 15, 7 and 3. I came across Ambleside and believe this will be of help.

  • Reply Tina August 3, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    I am currently watching the video and some things she is clicking on aren’t on my screen. What should I do? I can’t follow along anymore

    • Reply Jacklyn August 8, 2018 at 5:22 pm

      I just watched too. They are there just not where hers were. I am new to this. Happy schooling

  • Reply Melissa September 26, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    I’m following the video but don’t see the option to chose basic or detailed. Where can I find that now?

    • Reply Brandy Vencel September 26, 2017 at 2:14 pm

      Hi Melissa! When they last updated the site, they took out those options…which really makes it MUCH easier! ♥

  • Reply carrie September 22, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    Just watched the video -thanks so much it is very helpful. One question did AO change the site since you did this video? I went to year 2 and it doesn’t give me the option to choose a version for my son.

    • Reply Brandy Vencel September 22, 2017 at 2:52 pm

      Oh, yes! I think they changed that part when they introduced AO for Groups. So my video works, but is no longer exact. 🙂

  • Reply Kelly July 24, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    I have a question. I am a tiny bit farmiliar with CM and I was overwhelmed when I first started homeschooling with this curriculum… I felt unqualified to use this curriculum. But now, I am thinking of taking on the challenge, but I need a free curriculum… free printable s and book from the library kind of free… is this one I can do for free? Thanks!

    • Reply Brandy Vencel July 24, 2017 at 2:00 pm

      It can *mostly* be done for free (or really cheap), yes. See the key on this page? It tells you to look for certain signs to find the various free versions. Modern history era is more difficult because those texts are not yet public domain, but any of the earlier years (so before Year 6) should work. 🙂

  • Reply Stephani May 4, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    Thank you so very much! This website makes sense at last, looking forward to using it.
    🙂

    • Reply Brandy Vencel May 4, 2017 at 1:56 pm

      I’m so glad it was helpful, Stephani! ♥

    • Reply Sherry Richard October 30, 2017 at 5:47 am

      The school said I should with draw them so I can homeschooling how do you get a letter of intent I’m lost on this I want to be legal so I don’t get in trouble.

      • Reply Brandy Vencel October 30, 2017 at 11:19 am

        I would contact HSLDA. They will tell you how to do it correctly in your state. 🙂

  • Reply Heather April 21, 2017 at 8:09 am

    Thank you so much for the video, I was so overwhelmed by all the information. It makes perfect sense now and I’m excited to start my daughter on this. She has struggled so long in school not because of academics but she just didn’t fit the mold of what the school wanted her to do or be. This sounds like a great program!

    • Reply Brandy Vencel April 21, 2017 at 8:52 am

      I’m so glad it was helpful, Heather! Make sure you join the AO free help forum … the ladies there will happily answer all the questions that come up along the way. 🙂

  • Reply Diana March 19, 2017 at 6:34 am

    Love this! Thanks for making it so I can share it with friends who ask about AO. I never know where to start explaining, and I tend to give too much information and sound like a CM fan girl when all they wanted to know (at first) is what books to buy.

    My “pro tip” is that I never print the second page of the pdf doc for each of the three 12-week terms. You know, the page that is mostly blank? Instead of printing that grid for each of my students, I use the info there to make a master loop schedule (for the whole family) for our “morning time.” In fact, that’s pretty much my morning time cheat sheet. (Except for the free reads — I make a list of those and tape it to the side of my child’s bookcase in his room, and he checks them off after he reads them.)

    • Reply Hailey March 19, 2017 at 10:47 am

      Best advice! Thanks.

  • Reply Mama Rachael March 14, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Thank you! I had figured out the pdf for the weekly/term schedule, but I hadn’t figured out the artist, composer, etc study bit. I thought I was going to have to figure those out myself and was thinking I might not get that done… I’m no good at the detail stuff. I’m loving the AO curriculum, its so well laid out and takes the student so deep. And, yes, I consider myself the student also!

  • Reply Kristi March 10, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    Thank you for this! I did find the website daunting, I am planning to start next year with my 6 y.o. and so it was nice to have a walk-through. 🙂 I also just bought “Start Here” and am looking forward to reading it so that I can stop putting the cart before the horse (i.e., excitedly and endlessly looking at curriculum possibilities before diving deeper into the principles and philosophy so that they can be better internalized! haha).

  • Reply Helen March 6, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    You just described what I do! Every March…

    (And this tutorial makes the web page much less daunting for new users, thanks!)

    I still use the list version, because I like it, and it compartmentalizes week-by-week so I (and my kids) don’t get overwhelmed. I copy it into a word document, make my adjustments, format it to one week per page, and print and bind it. I can see why the at-a-glance chart that keeps each term in two pages would be valuable, though.

  • Reply Pam March 6, 2017 at 10:06 am

    When I first started Ambleside we had to walk through the snow uphill both ways. ? You are cracking me up but this is a fabulous tutorial.

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